


Crimson Flower but better: Episode 2

by IYS1



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Multi, idk lol
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-09
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-13 01:54:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28645572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IYS1/pseuds/IYS1
Summary: Part 2 of my Crimson Flower but better series, this part will cover the events leading up to, during, and after the great bridge of myrddin conflict. The goal of this fic is to deepen the lore of the story as a whole, while adding events and arcs that deepen the characters. Constructive criticism is appreciated.





	1. Crimson Flower but Better

Garrag Mach is exactly as Byleth remembered it, is what she would want to say, but the place is a shell of what it once was. She had spent the last week wandering the ruined halls she once called home aimlessly while the empire got to work getting the place into working order. Thankfully that meant the cafeteria would finally be back in business, and 5 years of sleep gave her quite the appetite.

Byleth skipped on over to the newly refurbished cafeteria to try the bear meat the chef told her about the day before, but she was instead met with a bear hug. Byleth nearly flipped her assailant over until she recognized the voice filled with a mix of sorrow and joy. Mercedes von Martritz was the woman who held Byleth even tighter than Edelgard had, whose tear filled face was pressed into her bosom. Byleth returned the hug, a similar mix of emotions swirled in her as she thought about everything Mercedes must have gone through, but the emotion that dominated her heart was joy at seeing she was safe.

Byleth looked up and was met with a bigger surprise, two more familiar faces looked at her with barely hidden happiness in the two men’s eyes. Felix Hugo Fraldarius and Lorenz Hellman Gloucester stood before her. Lorenz wears an over the top set of purple armor adorned with a rose upon his chest, upon anyone else it would look ridiculous, but it just seems right on Lorenz. Meanwhile Felix wears a simple garb lined with animal fur, likely made in his cold home of the kingdom. “It’s good to see you well professor, truly.” Lorenz spoke first with a slight bow of respect to his former teacher. “Mercedes, can you get off of the professor now? You’ll suffocate her at this rate.” Felix says with that same blunt tone as 5 years ago. 

Mercedes squeezes Byleth hard one last time before finally letting go, giving her a chance to actually breath. “Professor! It’s me! I’m so glad to see you!” Mercedes sobs with infinite tears of joy, Felix and Lorenz have to work together to hold her back from embracing their professor once more. Mercedes wears clothes reminiscent of a church bishop, and the irony of that is not lost on anyone. “Y-you all stayed with the empire?! For five years?!” Byleth finally managed to exclaim after regaining her breath, the shock of seeing her former students betray their homelands was enough to put her into another 5 year coma.

“Yes indeed,” Lorenz answered first; “the Gloucester family has always had the intention of having a good relationship with the empire. My assistance in the battle to take the monastery was rewarded with a position as a general in the army.” Lorenz explained. “My case is far more simple” Felix stated. “I had already had plans to defect from the boar and my father, the emperor extended an offer to assist her army after the battle, and I accepted.” Felix stated that he planned to betray his country so bluntly that it took a second for Byleth to register it. “Hmph, what a selfish reason, you have no right to call yourself a member of a noble family Felix.” Lorenz responded, which was met with one insult after the next from Felix, some of them weren’t heard as Mercedes had started to bring Byleth over to one of the tables to get away from them.

“What about you Mercedes? What led you to joining the empire?” Byleth asked as she finally managed to get her bearings about the situation. Mercedes looks down as her hand grasps a strange necklace. “After the battle… I planned on returning to the kingdom and help to take care of my mother…” Mercedes stopped with a grim expression on her face. “But I was stopped by King Dimitri after the battle.” Mercedes said with shaky breath, still unable to meet Byleths eyes. It made sense, Mercedes decided to join Byleths side in the battle against the church because she agreed with Edelgards claims about the corrupt church, but she sensed there was something more to it than that. 

“What do you mean he stopped you?” Byleth asked. She had already heard rumors of King Dimitri and his ravenous hatred for the Emperor. “After the battle I rejoined with the other blue lions students and began the journey back to the kingdom capital. Shortly after we began, he pulled me aside… while armed. He claimed that I was an imperial spy.” Byleth couldn’t believe her ears, the sincere Dimitri branding one of his own friends as a traitor and threatening her? What happened to that man to push him to such a point in so little time? 

“He wished to execute me on the spot, and Dimitri wouldn’t take no for an answer from anyone.” “But then how did you escape?” Byleth asked, fully invested in the story being told by her student. “I was saved by my brother, Emile. He stormed into the camp and defeated multiple kingdom soldiers, he helped me escape on horseback.” Mercedes stated. “I didn’t know you had a brother, he sounds like a great guy. I’d love to meet him.” “But professor, you two have already met, in fact here he comes now!” Mercedes answers as she points towards a figure approaching Byleth from behind. A strangely cold feeling shakes Byleth to her core as she turns around to see the man Mercedes had pointed at.

Jeritza von Hyrm stood before the two women, with a neutral expression that harshly contrasted the joyful look upon Mercedes’ face. “Why hello there Emile! Are you here to join us for lunch?” Mercedes speaks with a voice of joy that matches her expression perfectly, unexpected coming from the woman who was just telling a story of her near death experience. “The emperor requests your presence in the war room professor.” Jeritza says. “Wait wait wait wait wait, you’re Emilie?!” Byleth exclaims, catching the attention of just about everyone else in the room. Jeritzas eye twitches as he grabs Byleth by the arm and begins to drag her out of the cafeteria. “We can catch up more over tea some other time professor!” Mercedes calls out before becoming drowned out by the other voices in the cafeteria. 

Byleth manages to shake her arm out of Jeritzas iron grip and takes a defensive stance. “What is it professor? The emperor said it was urgent.” Jeritza says calmly, as if none of the events of 5 years ago had even occurred. “Forgive me, but I’d prefer not to be dragged around by someone who calls themselves the death knight.” Byleth responds sarcastically, but really she is shaken, memories of fighting the death knight in the holy mausoleum and his performance on the battlefield less than a week ago came surging back as she looked him in the eye. However she feels none of the murderous intent that she felt from him on the battlefield, his eyes tell a completely different story. “Ah yes, him. You have no need to worry, I am under orders by the emperor to not harm you until the current conflict has reached its end.”

Byleth has even more questions than before, but the sincerity in his voice causes her to automatically relax and begin following him. Those questions spinning in her head overwhelm her as she blurts out the one that came to mind first. “The emperor? I thought you worked for the organization Kronya was apart of?” Byleth realizes the somewhat dangerous territory she may have stepped into and gets ready to retract her statement, but she is swiftly met with an answer. “The only person I answer to is Emperor Edelgard, and no one else. I owe her a debt I cannot hope to repay in my lifetime.” Jeritza responds. 

Byleth wishes to continue her interrogation of him, but unfortunately they reached the war room and are met by the core members of the black eagle strike force, standing around a map of fodlan marked by chess pieces placed atop strategic locations and battle lines. “Ah professor, glad to see you could join us!” Ferdinand says with a wave. “Good to see you professor.” Edelgard says as well. “Thank you for escorting her here Jeritza.” Edelgard states with a slight bow. “Yes, if you’ll excuse me-“ Jeritza begins to say before being interrupted. “What are you talking about? You’re a part of the strike force just as much as any one of us now!” Caspar loudly claims. 

For the first time Byleth sees Jeritzas normally stoic face turn into one of genuine surprise. “That’s correct.” Edelgard follows up; “You’ve done more than enough work under my uncle for me, it’s time that you join our ranks Jeritza.” Edelgard declares to the silent agreement of everyone present. “As you command, emperor.” Jeritza says with a bow. With that, as if on queue, three new figures enter the war room, Felix, Lorenz and Mercedes enter the room and join the strike force at the table. “Ahem, now that everyone has arrived, we can get to business.” Hubert announces, prompting everyone to take a seat at the long table.

He then motions to byleth to take a seat at the end of the table, to just about everyone’s surprise. Once again Caspar is the one to break the awkward silence; “Hey uh Hubert? Isn’t that space usually for our leader? I get that the professor is back now but isn’t that-“ Caspar is interrupted by the woman he was referring to. “Me and Hubert discussed this and we came to the conclusion that our teacher will resume her original role as our battle strategist and leader.” Edelgard announces to the rest of the strike force. There is a general murmur of agreement among the people present at the meeting, but Ferdinand is the one to raise his voice. “Are you sure that’s wise Edelgard? If our enemies, or even our allies, learn that our emperor is taking orders from someone else, it could present an issue for morale, or our enemies may try to take advantage of it.” Ferdinand argues, and Byleth almost agrees, no doubt she had the leadership skills, but her students have been hardened by five years of conflict, someone like herself might not have the right to lead the students she failed. 

The one to fire back is Petra; “Ferdinand, while you may be correct in slight, we have not been brought together like this since the war had begun.” Petra is followed up by Dorothea; “She’s right, our professor is the only one who has experience of leading all of us at once, she has the best chance of getting us all through safely.” Dorothea closes the argument, and Ferdinand silently admits defeat by sitting back down in his chair. “With that matter out of the way let’s discuss our next move.” Edelgard declares as she motions towards the large map of fodlan on the table. “Linhardt, if you would-“ Edelgard begins before noticing the young crest scholar was already fast asleep.

Caspar elbows him in the kidney, which launches him awake. “ACCORDING TO THE RESEARCH DIVISION!” Linhardt begins, before realizing his tone and taking a deep breath. “The only feasible path to the alliance would be the great bridge of myrddin, all other paths lead through treacherous territory like the valley of torment, or directly to alliance strongholds.” Linhardt points at several pawn pieces on the map that represent possible paths to take, each of which have been knocked over to represent they aren’t possible to use. “According to the scouts, the anti empire faction of the alliance currently holds the bridge, and they have recently been reinforced, with Judith as their leader.” Felix states. “Yes, the bridge lies in the territory of Acheron, who is currently apart of Claudes faction. However his family is very divided on which side to join, that works to our advantage as well.” Lorenz follows up Felixs’ statement, it seems like they managed to finish their quarrel before joining the meeting. 

“So Claude is the leader of the anti empire faction?” Byleth asks. She thinks of the scheming and charismatic student from the academy, thinking on what she knows about him; it's not much of a surprise that he has the position he does now. “That’s correct, the house of Reigan generally holds the most power in the alliance, and as its heir he has the noble families in a facade of neutrality, but really it’s a silent civil war.” Edelgard answers. “Judiths actions last week prove that the already fragile foundation of the alliance is starting to crumble, and Claude is starting to make a move.” Hubert follows up Edelgards statement. The pieces of what Byleth remembers about the politics of fodlan are starting to piece themselves back together, along with a set of new pieces added on after the last five years. She’s tempted to hit her head against the table but she refrains. 

“But that doesn’t make sense, if the alliance is already a mess as is, why would Claude take the risk of picking a fight with the empire now?” Caspar asks, and Byleth is glad to know there’s someone else just as clueless as her about the politics of Fodlan. “Think of the alliance as a powder keg, and the war is a flame inching closer and closer to it. If Claude can put the fire out before the alliance erupts, he can save the alliance without any blood being spilled on their land.” Ferdinand answers his question with a metaphor even Byleth could follow. “I-if that’s the case, then can’t we just, you know, ignore them?” Bernadetta chimes in with her hand raised as if she’s in class again. “Not possible.” Felix bluntly answers back, prompting Bernadetta to duck and cover herself under the table. “If we ignore this and instead focus our efforts on the kingdom, Claude will take advantage and attack us from behind.” Felix answers clearly enough to bring Bernadetta back from under the table.

“There’s another advantage to dealing with the alliance first you know? The border between the kingdom and the empire has barely moved an inch since the war started, it's moved back and forth over and over, with small mountains of dead bodies as the cost.” Mercedes talks about the concept of no man’s land, where the two sides fight skirmish after skirmish with no real progress being made. “If we can place pressure on the kingdom from the border between the alliance and the kingdom, we will be able to break through with fewer losses to either side of the conflict.” Mercedes, always the kindest person in the room, brings the argument to a close with that statement. “I see… thank you Mercedes.” Bernadetta answers back with renewed confidence. 

“We have already begun the preparations to take the bridge, once we succeed we will have a straight path to Derdriu, the floating city in Reigan territory.” Edelgard speaks up to clearly establish their goals. “If we manage to defeat Claude, the leader of the anti empire faction, the rest of the alliance will have no choice but to concede to us. In these two moves we will take one large step towards the end of this conflict!” Edelgard declares with her fist raised in the air, and is met with the cheers of everyone else in the room. The conflict against the alliance has now begun.


	2. Chapter 2

The Great Bridge of Myrddin, the largest and most widely used path between the Alliance and the Empire was once a center of trade and a show of goodwill between the two powers. Today it stands as a wall between the two, shortly after the war started, traders quickly abandoned the bridge to make for their homes. They were quickly replaced by the anti empire faction of the alliance, who realized that if the bridge were to fall into empire hands, they would have easy access to any of the Alliances territories. The bridge had been largely ignored by the empire due to their primary focus being the church, but all of that has changed today.

Right now the black eagle strike force has arrived at the Great Bridge of Myrddin. The strike force seems small at first glance, but each member is highly experienced and wields extraordinary weaponry. Lorenz sits upon a steed wielding the Axe of Ukonvasara, a sacred weapon tied to the crest of Gloucester. Mercedes is also upon a horse, but she has taken to a support role as a holy knight, and also wields a relic around her neck, the Rafail Gem, granting her increased defensive capabilities. Lastly Felix stands more equipped than anyone else on the battlefield, a skilled mortal savant, he wields a levin sword in one hand and on the other is a relic, the Aegis Shield.

These warriors and the rest of the Strike force are what were reported to the commander of the bridge, Judith, the hero of Daphnel. “That’s it?” Judith asks the scout who reported to her. “That’s correct, 13 officers and their battalions, led by the Emperor herself, are currently calling for our surrender. Your orders?” The scout replies. Judith ponders for a moment, her face is a mix of deep thought and anger. “First that woman humiliated me at garrag Mach, and next she insults me by attacking with such a pathetic force?” Judith mutters to herself until another figure enters the room.

“Ignatz Victor reporting, the reinforcements we sent for will be here shortly Lady Judith, should we commence the attack?” Ignatz reports to Judith with a grim expression. “Attack? What are you talking about?” Judith asks back. Ignatz rolls out a map of the great bridge of Myrddin and its strategic points onto the table. “I have my archers hidden at these points near the gate, they can fire upon the Emperor at a moment's notice.” Ignatz says with conviction. Judith is taken aback, she had known Ignatz for a while now, but it’s like he became a different person in just a week. She knew that he was good friends with Raphael, but to go to this extent…

“Are you nuts?! I haven’t even issued the orders to prepare for an attack, and you want to just shoot the Emperor?! And who gave you the order to mobilize in the first place?” Judith berates Ignatz for stepping out of line, but the expression on his face hardly changes. “The empire killed Raphael, they slaughtered your forces that moved on Garrag Mach, and yet you’d rather sit here and wait for help than take matters into your own hands?!” Judith responds to him with a slap to the face, which knocks him to the ground. “You idiot, you who have lived half as long as me want to tell me about loss? I know you’re a good kid, so go reevaluate yourself, or get off my bridge!” Ignatz doesn’t respond as he stands and exits the room, and his expression still hasn’t changed.

“To answer your question, we mobilize, get into defensive positions, and be sure to tell everyone retreat is a high likelihood.” Judith made sure to place emphasis on defense as she orders the scout, who hurriedly exits the room to spread the word. Judith begins to arm herself as she thinks on the letter that Claude sent in response to her request for reinforcements. He told her essentially what she just told the scout, aside from one other detail, that retreat has a higher priority than actually winning the battle at hand. “I was never much for schemers like him, but even more than that, never much for taking a loss on purpose.” Judith says to herself as she exits the war room, fully prepared for what’s to come.

The strike force surrounds the western entrance to the bridge in a semicircle. Byleth scans the towers above, she has noticed movement here and there, but nothing of direct threat for the last hour since their demand for surrender was issued. “Hey…” Caspar sleepily says as he seemingly just woke up from napping atop his wyvern. “Can anyone remind me why we are still waiting here? The enemy is probably planning something at this point.” Dorothea responds to his sleepy question with a jab at his side. “Remember the whole reason we are taking the alliance first is to minimize losses as a whole? If we can take the bridge without any conflict, that’s all the better.” She says as she leans back on Petras black Pegasus.

“For once Caspar makes a decent point.” Felix says, sitting cross legged looking more bored than anyone else here. “If we let the enemy come up with a counter strategy or let any reinforcements arrive, there will be even more enemies to cut down.” Felix argues. Caspar leans up, now wide awake after having his statement be affirmed; “Right right?! Does that mean I can get in there and-“ “Shut it Caspar, you’ll get your chance sooner than you might think.” Linhardt interrupts as he points towards the bridge. Specifically he points at a single figure, Judith, as she approaches while armed with the same weapons she used at their last meeting. Her rapier is sheathed and her hexlock shield is upon her back, her hands are clearly empty.

“Just a rapier and a shield? This must be a trap to make us lower our guard.” Hubert states as he readies his dark magic in his hands. “Hold Hubert, this is much simpler than that.” Ferdinand says. Hubert shoots Ferdinand a deadly look; “What are you blathering about this time you idiot?” Ferdinand ignores the insult and points at Judith. “Her weapons, armor, and even her demeanor are the exact same as when we last met. To her this is a continuation of our previous battle, if she came at us with anything more it would be a stain upon her pride as a warrior.” Ferdinand argues. Hubert doesn’t respond, but he stops the dark spell in his hands, so it seems he was convinced. 

With that out of the way, Edelgard steps forward to meet the enemy commander. The two of them stand 7 meters away from each other, and both have their weapons sheathed. “Have you come to surrender Lady Judith? I think you know that to be the best decision here.” Edelgard begins her negotiations clearly and without pretense. Judith begins to laugh to herself, but Byleth can feel a hollowness to it. “You crossed blades with me barely a week ago, I think you should know my answer.” Judith replies. Edelgard lowers her head; “Yes indeed, I knew you wouldn’t be the type. However I believe your leader has more of a say in this than you do. So I am not asking if you will surrender, I ask if Claude will surrender.” 

Judith's eye twitches at this statement, it cuts her deep and her hand balls up into a fist. Edelgard had always been called arrogant, even as a child. It’s not intentional, but she is the type who will always cut to the heart of a matter, customs and tact be damned. But for once Judith is silent, the hero of Daphnel genuinely ponders her statement. Edelgard walks forward and reaches out her hand. “No one needs to die today, not you, and not your loyal men and women.” Edelgard says with a look of genuine hope upon her face. Judith looks Edelgard in the eye, and her fists relax, the only sound in the air is the breeze that flows like a calm river.

Until that sound is replaced by a loud THWACK, the sound of a bow string. The arrow was launched from one of the towers that adorn the bridge, and that arrow lands into the hand of its target, Edelgard. She caught the arrow with the very hand that had reached out to Judith, and her look of hope turns into one of disappointment. “What?! Who?!” Judith yells as she scans her own towers, until her eyes latch onto a head of dull green hair. “Ignatz! What have you-ack!” Judith says before receiving a roundhouse kick to the ribs from Byleth, and is sent flying. Judith stands and says something, but what she said is unheard by anyone, as another scream overwrites it. “FIRE” Ignatz yells from his tower, as a rain of arrows descends onto the battlefield from the upper area of the bridge. 

Judith retreats to the bridge, and her presence is replaced by alliance forces consisting of armored soldiers, brawling warriors, and even more archers. The members of the strike force with shields defend their allies while the ones with ranged attacks do their best to shoot down the arrows as they approach. Byleth notices that the alliance forces are moving out of sync, some are in a different formation than the rest, and the volleys of arrows seem almost random. “It seems not even Claude or Judith's leadership could stop some soldiers from doing what they think was right” Hubert says as he begrudgingly stays behind Ferdinands great shield. 

“Caspar! Petra! You two need to fly up and take out those archers! Take the others with you!” Byleth orders while simultaneously firing fire balls with both hands in order to clear them a path. “I am understanding!” Petra says. “Dorothea, your assistance?” Petra asks as she offers her a hand onto her Pegasus. “Sure! But please fly gently I am not the best with HEI-“ Dorothea doesn’t have a chance to backseat fly as her pilot launches them straight upwards, and then quickly into a dive towards the leftmost tower. 

“Alright let’s go! Hop on Felix!” Caspar yells at the top of his lungs. “Huh?! Why me you dimwit?” Felix says. “Your sword isn’t going to do much good against all that! Let’s just go!” Caspar responds. Felix pulls himself onto the wyvern while muttering death threats under his breath. Caspar begins to lift off before flying over Bernadetta. “You’re coming too bernie!” Caspar yells as the wyvern grips her shoulders, lifting her off of her horse. “HUH??? WHY MEEEEEEEEEEE?!?!” Bernadetta yells as the three of them fly off towards the rightmost tower. Already the number of arrows flying from the left side are beginning to lessen, so Byleth regroups with the remaining members to form a plan.

“Do you have a plan professor?” Edelgard asks as she covers byleth with her shield. “Their forces are in disarray due to the conflict of interest amongst them, we can take advantage of that to block their escape.” Hubert mentions. “Lorenz, Hubert, and Ferdinand will break through and capture the opposite end of the bridge to block their escape.” Byleth says. “Old maps of the bridge also indicate a side entrance with a nearby ballista, we must capture that if we don’t want to be flanked.” Linhardt mentions as he hides behind Ferdinands armored horse. “I can operate a ballista! Professor Manuela gave me a lot of lessons on bows!” Mercedes says. “Jeritza and Linhardt, you two will escort her there and make sure we aren’t in for some unexpected visitors.” Byleth orders.

“Oh… I thought my contribution of the map information would be enough to fulfill my duties for today. Fine…” Linhardt says. “But lady Edelgard, that will leave you and the professor to take care of the main forces.” Ferdinand objects. “Don’t worry Ferdinand, look at them. They haven’t taken advantage of our bad position yet and they clearly don’t have any leadership at the moment. The two of us will take care of them easily.” Byleth says. “I was prepared to fight this war alone if I had to, but I have all of you with me.” Edelgard says with a slight smile. “Have you all finished? It’s time for the fun to begin!” Jeritza says, and the black eagle strike force charges onto the great bridge of Myrddin in unison.


	3. Chapter 3

The front gate of the great bridge of Myrddin didn’t originally exist, however as the war continued on the alliance nobles of the anti empire faction saw it necessary to bolster their defenses. The bridge was fitted with an iron gate on both ends, along with ramparts lining the top and two towers on either side of each gate. The lack of these defenses was once a show of goodwill between the powers, but now the bridge has become a proper battlefield. Caspar, Bernadetta and Felix now fight to capture the rightmost tower of the bridge, Petra and Dorothea fight to capture the left. 

“Bernadetta! If you don’t stop squirming then Zoltan is going to drop you!” Caspar yells as he manages to pilot his wyvern past a battalion of archers trying to shoot him down. “Did you really name your wyvern after a cool sword you saw one time?” Felix says while tempted to facepalm if he wasn’t busy firing thunder spells at the archers below. Caspar doesn’t answer as he commands his wyvern to dive towards the ramparts, the archers scatter at the sight of the dragon coming hurtling towards them. “Here’s your stop Bernie!” He yells as he commands his wyvern to pull up and slow down, allowing Bernadetta to drop down onto the ramparts.

Bernadettas curses and protests can’t be heard as Caspar and Felix pull back up and fly towards the tower. “Are you sure she’s going to be okay? I never understood how a coward like her managed to survive these five years, much less retain her position as general.” Felix says, an uncharacteristic tinge of worry underlies the insult, which even Caspar notices. “Oh trust me, she’ll be perfectly fine. People like her are the most dangerous when you back them into a corner. I think Hubert called it a distribution complex or something.” Caspar places his confidence wholeheartedly into the meek girl now stuck in between 5 archers, two on her left and three on her right. Felix doesn’t have time to protest anymore as they land on the roof of the tower.

The two men dismount the wyvern and look out over the battlefield. They can see the Emperor and their professor taking on the main offensive force of the bridge, thankfully more soldiers are focused on playing defense, so they don’t have much to contend with. Felix glances down at the ramparts and sees what he feared, Bernadetta curled up into a ball. Thankfully the enemies are too bewildered by the sight of the purple haired girl to do anything. “Hey you idiot! She’s not doing anything, we need to-“ Felix is prepared to jump off the tower if need be, it’s about a four story drop, but his protest is interrupted by a flash of movement and a yell. 

“OKAY IM GONNA DO IT!” Bernadetta suddenly yells as she exits her turtle mode. She unstraps the bow from her back and knocks two arrows at the same time, launching both into the heads of the two archers on her left. “You bitch!” One of the soldiers on her right yells as he unsheathes a sword, the other two soldiers panic and try to knock arrows of their own. Bernadetta rolls to the side and grabs a javelin, throwing it with force that would normally be impossible for someone her size, into the shoulder of one of the archers. The soldier with the sword runs at her with his blade raised above her head with one hand. Right as he brings the sword down on the kneeling woman, she meets his strike with a blow to the hand holding the sword, knocking it into the air. 

“That’s…” Felix remarks her speed and movements, not only are they well placed, but faster than he’s ever seen anyone move before. “Did you forget that she has a crest? You should know better than anyone that people with crests are practically superhuman.” Caspar says as he seemingly enjoys the show that Bernadetta is putting on. The girl performing ducks under the arm of the soldier she just disarmed and catches the sword in mid air. With what can only be described as the wail of a banshee, she cuts down the other archer with his friend's own sword. She turns around and looks at the soldier with tears in her eyes; “Please give up.” 

The soldier convulses, looking around at the sight of his allies, with arrows in their brains or blades sticking out of their backs. He kneels down and rolls up into a similar ball that Bernadetta was in. She walks up to him and reaches down, likely to help him up, but her gesture is met by the man brandishing a knife under his sleeve, which he slashes directly at her face. Though that’s would would have happened if his hand hadn’t been burned off mid swing. His attack was halted by Dorothea, who launched an attack of her own, a fireball that took the soldiers hand clean off. Bernadetta stumbles away and is caught by Petra, who gives her a reassuring hug. Petra passes Bernadettas crying body to Dorothea, as the Bridgid princess walks forward to meet the soldier screaming in pain on the ground. “The earth spirit will accept all, return to the earth.” Petra says as she brings down her sword, putting the man out of his misery.

“Y-you guys already captured your tower?! Amazing!” Bernadetta remarks as she manages to pull herself away from Dorothea. “Indeed Bernadetta, Dorothea danced and I hunted, it was the fun.” Petra says, she then lets out a loud whistle to her Pegasus so it can pick the girls up. “Come on, let’s go give our dear professor and Edie some backup shall we?” Dorothea says. She looks up to see Caspar and Felix still watching them from the roof of the tower. She gives them a teasing wave before mounting the black Pegasus along with Petra and Bernadetta, as if to say “Good luck on your own!” 

“Damn that woman.” Felix says under his breath before unsheathing his levin sword and brandishing his aegis shield. “Save the complaints for later, more archers are coming up the stairs, let’s get the drop on them!” Caspar says as he shoulders his brave axe, and sheaths his tomahawk behind his back. As he said, a number of footsteps approach and scatter around the tower, each one stops as the edge, and the sounds of bowstrings being pulled can be heard. “The Pegasus rider is still in the air, shoot it down!” A familiar voice says. Felix and Caspar nod to each other, despite their differences this is where they both shine the brightest, so no words need be said now. 

Both of them vault off the roof and land in the archers nest, 8 archers all have their aim pointed at Petra and the others, but that aim is ruined by a lightning spell that sends them all off of their feet. While they all sit in a daze the two men are upon them, the axe and sword tear the would be snipers to shreds, and they are all gone just as quickly as they appeared, all except one. A certain archer managed to dodge the spell and escape the slaughter, a young man with dull green hair, a brave bow, a sheathed sword, and a dead look in his eye. “Ignatz, call off your forces, this battle is worthless.” Felix says, his sword lowered before the enemy. 

The former student of the golden deer doesn’t answer, he looks around aimlessly until he locks onto Caspar. In a flicker of movement the brave bow in his hand is aimed, loaded with three arrows at once, and all of them fired at Caspar. None of the arrows reach the former black eagle, Felix was already in front of Caspar with his shield ready before the arrows were even loosed. “Woah woah hey! Easy man!” Caspar says, he may have been fooled by Ignatzs behavior, but the former blue lion was not, all of this was familiar to Felix. The precise movements, the killing intent, and the pure motivation behind every action, it was like facing HIM all over again.

“That look in your eyes, it’s the same as the boar. The look of a beast who knows nothing but death.” Felix says as he points his sword at Ignatz, whose hands are shaking. “I-no-We wanted to help Claude build a better future for Fodlan. Me and Raphael wanted this war to be over with, so our families could go back to their normal lives.” Ignatz says, the emotion of despair mixed with rage permeates his voice. “AND LOOK AT THE RESULT!” He screams as he points to the dead soldiers, his arms spread wide as if to use the entire battlefield as an example. “If this scenery and this pain in my heart, is the price to pay to end the war, end Edelgard… I wouldn’t have paid it!” Ignatz says, his arms go slack and his bow falls out of his hands.

“You really are just like the boar king, if I have to face him in the future anyway… then you’ll make good pra-“ Felix is ready to charge, but a hand grasps his shoulder before he can strike. “Stop it, he isn’t worth it man. Look at him.” Caspar says. The mere sight of Ignatz is all he needs to prove his point, the man has fallen to his knees, he punches the ground and screams in vain, the former artist is a shell of his former self from the academy. Felix doesn’t answer, but he lowers his sword and turns his back to Ignatz. “Prove me wrong Ignatz.” Felix says as he walks towards the ladder to the roof.

“Tell me.” Ignatz says under his breath, his knuckles bleed from his numerous punches, and his glasses have long since fallen to the ground and shattered. “Caspar, why did Raphael have to die? Why did you kill Raphael, but you’re leaving me to live? WHY?!” Ignatz screams not only to Caspar, but as if to ask the universe the very same question. “Raphael fought me with everything he had, he died with honor. But you Ignatz, remind me nothing of your friend, and I don’t want to send you to him while you look like a monster.” Caspars says, and he follows suit with Felix. Tears well up in Ignatzs’ eyes; “A monster? ME?! Look at you, killing and fighting just to PROVE YOURSELF! Don’t you dare tell me about monsters, you goddamn demons!” 

Ignatz unsheathes his sword, raises it above his head, and charges at Caspar. Felix readies himself, but Caspar gives him a disapproving look again, before turning his eyes to his opponent. Caspar drops his axe and tosses his tomahawk to the side, he lowers both of his arms and drops his guard completely. “DIE!” Ignatz yells, he slashes downward but doesn’t hit his target. Caspar sidestepped at the last moment, and all Ignatz sees next is the sky. He had put all of his momentum into that attack and when it failed, his body had no choice but to fall off the tower. “Oh… I should have known this would-“ Were his last words before reaching the inevitable conclusion of his fall.


	4. Chapter 4

Leonie hated blood, she knows it’s a horrible weakness for the apprentice of the blade breaker to have, but it’s something she had always dealt with. Part of the reason she took up an apprenticeship with Jeralt himself was out of hope that she could get over it somehow, maybe find some secret technique that allowed her to dominate the battlefield without a drop of blood being shed. But she never got a chance to learn it, the man she had essentially based her life around was snatched away, and she was too busy dawdling in the monastery to do anything about it. In the end the only things Jeralt truly gave her were a charm, and a purpose. She would honor his memory by getting rid of those who took him out of the world in the first place.

So when a messenger from Deirdru came bursting into her encampment to inform her that the empire marches to strike the great bridge of Myrddin, she accepted the request for reinforcements without hesitation. She knew she was heading into a losing battle, even the message from Claude said so, but she didn’t bother to read the rest. The only thing that truly caught her attention was one sentence; “Teach is back, and she is supporting Edelgard in the battle.” From that point on nothing else mattered, not the fact that only 5 other men agreed to follow her into battle, nor the fact that there were tears flowing from her eyes as she made the request to them to help. 

Linhardt hated blood, ever since he first got into a fight with Caspar and got a bloody nose, he could never stand the sight of it. Not even after 5 long years of war has his hemophobia been quelled. Thankfully his professor understood his condition despite their opposite upbringings, and supported him wholeheartedly during his time at the academy, and the staff in his hand is proof. The Caduceus Staff, a sacred item that the professor graciously gave to him five years ago, not only due to his crest compatibility, but to help him with battle.

Ever since that day where Linhardts hemophobia was born, he strived to solve his problems from a distance, preferably in his room. The caduceus staff embodies his philosophy, allowing him to deal with the horrors of war from a safe distance. He had managed to gain a reputation for being able to swiftly deal with issues from halfway across the battlefield. However, he would not be able to pull off such a miracle today. As predicted, reinforcements began to approach the side entrance of the bridge, archers and wyvern riders, led by a paladin came closer and closer.

“It seems the time to hunt has arrived.” The death knight says as the fingers wielding his black scythe begin to crackle with electric magic. “Hold on Emile, look!” Mercedes calls to him and points to their goal, the ballista. A force of enemies can be seen advancing towards the ballista from the opposite direction. “What do we do? If we go after the ballista we will be flanked by those reinforcements, and the reverse is true if we attack the reinforcements now.” Mercedes says, panic rising in her voice as she clutches the gem around her neck. “Worthless, they will all fall by my hand no matter which direction they come from.” Jeritza says.

Linhardt lets out a deep sigh, he knew it would come to this at some point, but not this soon. “You two go for the ballista, I’ll stall them here so you can take them down with it.” Linhardt says while trying to hide his shaking hands. “Are you sure? But I thought-“ Mercedes says but stops herself, it seems he wasn’t able to hide his shaking even from her. “Come on brother, we must move quickly.” Mercedes turns her horse towards the ballista and begins to gallop towards it. Jeritza turns to join her, but not without another statement. “The battlefield is not a place for a scholar like yourself, think about why you are here as you face death.” He says as he gallops away.

Leonies forces arrive on the western flank of the bridge to a terrible sight. The proud towers that housed the best archers in the alliance were silent, not an arrow to be heard, and an explosion rings out from the middle of the bridge. “Ms. Pinelli, the message said we were to come to assist with the retreat, but is there anything we can even do here?” One of the soldiers asks their leader, her eyes still slightly red from her tears. “Yes, this bridge houses a ballista we can use to turn the tables on the empire, lets-“ “I wouldn’t do that if I were you!” Leonie begins her orders but is interrupted by a familiar voice. 

Linhardt stands at the path that leads to the ballista, leaning against the wall and holding a book in his hand. “Linhardt?! Is that you?” Leonie says, her guard ironically lowering despite facing an enemy. He looks up from the book but only looks confused. “Sorry, do I know you? I sure hope I don’t.” Linhardt says as he slips the book into his pocket, but being careful not to draw attention to the hand holding the staff behind his back. “It’s me, Leonie! We went to the officers academy!” Leonie says as she trots her horse forward, her small battalion lowers their guard too. “Sorry, not ringing a bell. Were you in the blue lions maybe?” 

Linhardt continues to play this game, of course he remembers Leonie, the amount of times she asked him for notes or pestered him about weapons that she could wield without a crest likely took a few years off his life. It’s taking everything he has not to break down and warn her about the spell that he is weaving around her and the other warriors. Her followers in the sky don’t notice the winds increasing in strength as their focus is placed on their leader. “Wait a moment, if you’re here, then that means…” Leonie begins to ponder to herself, and the grip on her spear tightens. Linhardt can’t keep the bluff up for much longer, and thankfully he doesn’t need to.

Linhardt reveals his staff from behind his back, and utters a single word; “Excalibur.” The winds that had been mildly churning immediately blossomed into a miniature tornado which engulfed Leonie and her warriors. The Pegasus riders were thrown off their mounts, and were either thrown off the bridge or were slammed into another person or horse. The archers were in a similar predicament, one attempted to get their bow drawn amidst the winds and chaos, but couldn’t even draw the string before getting sandwiched between two pegasi. 

The only outlier to the chaos was Leonie, who impaled her spear into the ground, and through sheer force of will, has managed to stay grounded. Her mount was not so lucky, as even with its armor was no match for the power of Linhardts charged wind spell, and was thrown off the bridge. Once the spell had ran its course, the only soldier left standing was Leonie, who kneels upon the ground in exhaustion, the rest are either nowhere to be seen, or an unrecognizable mess on the ground. Linhardt tries to avert his eyes, but his instincts hardened over five years of war tell him that he needs to keep his eyes on Leonie.

People had come to start calling her the Blade Breaker II. Linhardt thought it was silly, but her survival has all but proved her worthiness of the moniker. She and her band of mercenaries had gotten the alliance out of many tough situations in their occasional skirmishes with the empire, but even one well placed spell with proper timing is enough to send such a band of warriors to hell. “Leonie… I-“ Linhardt started as he began to walk towards her. “Where is she.” Leonie interrupted in a low voice. Linhardt stopped in his tracks, he knew exactly what she was talking about, anyone who knew her during their time at the academy would know the reason why her blood must be boiling.

“WHERE IS BYLETH EISNER?!” Leonie screams. She hoists her exhausted body up, and tears a bow off of her shoulder. She draws an arrow and points it straight at Linhardts head, but all he notices is the tears streaming from her eyes, he couldn’t tell if her eyes were red from the tears or pure rage. “Do you think I’d let someone like you near the professor? Not a chance.” Linhardt responds to the woman who holds his life in her hands with a jest, the very professor he is defending would likely scold such a move, but he feels this needs to be said.

“The professor chose her own path, she was never going to follow whatever fictional reality you concocted in your head based on your experience with her father.” Linhardt says, he walks forward even more, until the arrow would only need to travel 5 meters to pierce his brain. “But Edelgard killed her father! How could she join her?!” Leonie says, the bow in her hand unwavering. “Really? Is that how you understood it? Do you want to hear the short explanation for why you’re wrong, or the long version?” Linhardt retorts, hoping that she will be able to see reason through her rage, but he can hear his backup plan closing in if it doesn’t.

“Shut up! I don’t want to hear your lies! You’re all Captain Jeralts enemies, that’s all that matters here. So get out of my way, or both you and the professor are going to hell!” Leonie yells, the fingers holding the bowstring beginning to loosen their grip. “Fine Leonie, but I’m not the only one standing between you and the professor.” Linhardt says. Leonies eyes widen as her ears catch the sound of galloping that had, up until now, been drowned out by the sounds of battle. Linhardt dives out of the way once those sounds become crystal clear, and a pitch black scythe cuts leonies bow in half.

Leonie leaps backwards to avoid the same fate as her bow. “The ballista is secure bishop, and you left some prey for me, well done.” Jeritza, or rather the Death Knight, states as he and his black armored horse stand before Leonie. “You!” She yells as she pulls her silver spear from the ground where she impaled it. “You wish to fight me alone, child? I commend your bravery at the least.” The death knight taunts, trying to make the most of the minimal opponents he gets to face today. Leonie charges at jeritza, who swings his spear in a wide arc to halt her approach, but she lowered her stance to slide under the scythe. 

Leonie then swings her spear in an arc, attempting to cut the ankles of Jeritzas horse. With surprising dexterity, the horse leaps backward out of range of the spear, but when Leonie looks up she sees that the rider of the horse is no longer mounted. He leaped off the horse at the same moment it jumped backwards, and swings his spear downward at Leonie. She holds her spear up in defense, but the blade of the scythe pierces her shoulder, while she desperately blocks the rest of the scythe from going deeper. “I’m impressed girl, for someone who couldn’t even defeat a single bishop, you’re doing quite well.” The death knight taunts as he puts more weight into his attack, pushing the scythe deeper into her shoulder.

“Screw you!” Leonie yells as she kicks his legs, knocking him slightly off balance so she could get the blade out of her shoulder. Jeritza follows up with a kick of his own, which is blocked by leonies spear. However that kick was very well placed, it hit the exact area where the spear had been in its power struggle with the scythe, thus its weakest point. The strength behind his kick was enough to shatter it into two pieces, and send her flying into the corpse of one of the Pegasi. A look of disappointment is upon Jeritzas face, as if his advantage was not what he wanted from that attack. “Stand.” Jeritza coldly states.

“I’m not alone!” Leonie yells defiantly, picking up the bladed part of her spear, and the full spear of her deceased ally. “I have the spirit of the Blade Breaker on my side, I will defeat you!” She screams as she charges once again, ignoring the hole in her shoulder, and probably her heart. Jeritza stands still, as if lost in thought about something completely different. Leonie thrusts both spears at the same time towards Jeritzas abdomen, and he makes no move against her. The tips of the spears hit their mark but Jeritza stands unmoved, neither spear even managed to put a dent in his armor. 

“What…? But I… You-“ Leonie drops both spears, her hands shaking with despair. Jeritza places his hand on her abdomen and utters his last word to her. “Thoron.” He says as a javelin of lighting pierces through the young woman’s body, impaling her as if she’d been hit by a ballista arrow coursing with lighting. Any light that might have been left in her eyes disappeared without a trace, and she falls to the ground. Jeritza walks away without even looking at his handiwork, and Linhardt had his eyes averted through the entire battle. 

Jeritza passes Linhardt, the two had never really interacted, but the death knight addresses him. “Why is it?” He says. Linhardt turns his head in confusion, which unwillingly causes him to catch sight of Leonie, prompting him to return his head to its original position. “Why do people like you, and her, come onto the battlefield?” Jeritza stares at Linhardt as he says so. “People as weak as her have no place on a battlefield, and yet they line up before the death knight willingly. I can’t understand it.” Jeritza ponders. Linhardt had heard of Jeritzas multiple personalities, so it was difficult to understand his referring of his own actions as someone different than himself.

“Those who cannot understand their own strength are worthle-“ “You’re wrong about that.” Jeritza continues but is interrupted by Linhardt, who now looks him straight in the eye. “People do not enter wars because they are strong, or if they have a desire for death. Though maybe you wouldn’t be able to understand something like that.” Linhardt continues. His statement is met with Jeritzas glance turning into a glare, his hands beginning to twitch. “Do you care to repeat what you just said?” Jeritza says. 

“None of us have joined this war for the same reasons, some out of a desire to prove themselves, and others perhaps, out of love.” Linhardt says as he finally looks at Leonie. “Your sister would understand that the most out of all of us.” Jeritza recoils at the mention of his sister, his anger seemingly subsided at the mere mention of the only person he really cares about. Jeritza breaks his gaze as he marches towards his horse and mounts it. “There is wisdom in your words, Linhardt. Don’t put it to waste.” He says as he gallops back towards the ballista. 

Linhardt makes to follow him, but he has one other thing to take care of. He walks back to leonies corpse, and kneels over her, eyes still wide with shock from the blow that took her life. He places his hand over her face and closes her eyelids, he flicks his staff and performs a healing spell. He knows he can’t bring a person back to life, but he can at least heal the gaping wound in her stomach. He stands once his work is done, and walks away. “Don’t worry Leonie, I think Jeralts spirit was satisfied a long time ago.”


End file.
